1808 Grille

02/18/10

Inconsistent

by tochtli83 at Citysearch

This is the second time we've eaten at 1808 Grill. The first time, the food was outstanding all around (we had a group of about 10 people and all loved their dishes), however the service was terrible (female waiter was extremely rude and inattentive to the female guests of our party).

This time however, we arrived without reservation on a Saturday night. I understand the vagaries of what to expect under such circumstances, even so, my low expectations were not met.

We were advised that we could sit and eat at the bar. That seemed fine to us, however, in the 25 minutes we were seated at a bar table, we saw our server once: the moment she dropped off our drinks and scurried away before she could hear me request a glass for my beer. I though perhaps she had other responsibilities in the dining area, but the only place I could see her go was into the kitchen and then back to the bar to complain about back pain.

After waiting 25 minutes, I finally asked the hostess to find seating in the dining area (which was clearly available that late in the evening). She finally returned 5 minutes later with a table.

Our server this time was delightful, the food however, was hit and miss. The missus ordered the NY strip, which was a perfect, and we shared an uninspiring flat-bread pizza. I, on the other hand, went against my better judgment and ordered the gnocchi with braised rabbit, instead of the braised short rib. Bad idea. The rabbit itself was delicious, but whatever acrid, translucent gravy they drizzled over the dish was absolutely putrid. I can think of no other way to describe it, except as hot-lemon bleach. The gnocchi were burned, and tasted only of whatever burnt vegetable oil they were cooked in.

Of the listed elements of the dish (braised rabbit, roasted fennel, mustard greens and ghocchi), only the rabbit and greens tasted pleasant. The rest of the dish and it's wretched sauce were complete culinary disasters. It's the type of food I wouldn't even give to a dying sh1t-house rat.

Will I return to 1808 Grille? Absolutely. But I think I'll stick to the beef and pork, and stay far away from everything else.

• Pros: Great atmosphere, creative menu
• Cons: Bar service, host staff

12/31/09

Best meal we've had in we can't remember when!

by DAL23 at Citysearch

The food is so very good. Not only was this quite possibly the best hamburger ever, the artic char was outstanding. In fact, absolutely everything we ate was amazing. Garlic french fries - yes Garlic. Yummy, thin cut fries drizzled in garlic butter. OMG. Fish that was seasoned to perfection, cooked perfectly and delicious. A side dish of spaghetti squash with sage and bacon. And save room for the crazy bread pudding - this is not your mother's bread pudding. We tried to dissect the dish and think that the bread was a sweet bread of some sort that was baked liked giant croutons and then mixed with a rum sauce that was so good. Not too sweet at all. And then the whole thing was covered in freshly chopped apples with a wonderful sauce. We've never had a bread pudding like this before. We live in Chicago and have many, many fine restaurants to choose from and the 1808 Grille gives them a run for their money. Can't wait to get back to Nashville to sample more of what this Chef has to serve! As for the hostess, well, suffice it say she did not seem pleased to have customers without a reservation even though there were plenty of seats. But rest assured that the flawless service we received from Chris and the outstanding food made her nothing but a distant memory.

• Pros: Outstanding flavors; rich, intense
• Cons: Seemingly inexperienced hostess

12/29/09

If only the service were as good as the food

by gregoryflint at Citysearch

My first experience with this restaurant came with planning my 21st birthday. I called about 2.5 weeks in advance to book one of their private dining rooms for a party that I had of 25 people. Everything went fine on the phone, and I was told that I would be emailed a copy of the menu so that I could create a customized menu for my birthday dinner. I waited a week for the email before calling the restaurant back, because I was told that the person responsible for private dining had been in and out of the office. I called, explained that I was still waiting on the email, and was told that the man responsible would not be in the office until the next day. Hesitant, I (foolishly) hung up and waited until the next day for the email.

Still having not received it, I called back again and asked to confirm my reservations. The girl that I talked to had no idea what she was talking about and told me that I needed to call back at 3 so that I could talk to this elusive man in charge of private dining. I got off the phone, and then had a brief panic attack realizing that my birthday was now about a week away and I may or may not have a place for 25 people to eat. I immediately called back and requested to talk to a manager. She pulled up my information, told me that the reservation had been taken down, but that the room I had requested had been given to a corporate party.

Well........this was certainly not the news that I wanted to hear. I had never been contacted and told that I didn't have a reservation, and she apologized profusely for this incredibly inappropriate error, and promised me that I could have several tables in the front of the room instead, which was NOT what I wanted, so I canceled the reservations and found another place. I wrote a very long email and sent it to the manager, who then called, left me an apologetic voicemail, and urged me to call him back. I did so, left a voicemail, and never heard from him again.

For whatever reason, I decided to try this place again, because I heard that the food was amazing. A friend and I got to the restaurant about 45 minutes before our reservation (we planned on just walking around and checking out the hotel before our dinner), and checked in with the hostess, who told us that she could probably have us seated in ten minutes, so we just decided to wait. Well, an hour later, we still had not been seated and when we went back up to the hostess after seeing her seating guests who were freely walking in, she had completely forgotten our names and reservations, despite having walked past us for the past hour.

The one redeeming quality about this restaurant is that the food is ABSOLUTELY phenomenal. I ordered the arctic char (which is my top 5 of best entrees in nashville) and was blown away. However, I am hesitant to give this restaurant a 3rd chance until it can get its act together.

• Pros: Excellent food, great decor
• Cons: Unorganized management, service

12/13/09

Looks Can Be Deceiving

by MarkEMark at Citysearch

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the hostess who could not find our reservation. After several minutes of searching the list, she found our name and led us into an empty dining room. Why the hassle with so many empty tables?

The waiter arrived promptly with the wine list and menus, and he returned every thirty seconds to take our order, which apparently frustrated him a little. He never discussed the menu or the specials with us. We finally got him to return, and we ordered a bottle of wine which arrived fifteen minutes later. We overheard our neighbor table ordering and the waiter could not offer any information on any of the dishes.

The food was presented very well. We ordered the potato truffle lobster ravioli and the balsamic braised boneless chicken thighs. The food was alright. The chicken tasted like something my mom could whip up in her crock pot back home, and the ravioli tasted like it was hosed down with perfume. They never brought out our roasted sweet potato side dish. Oh well.

Overall, the decor was great, the wine was good, the food was alright, and the service was mediocre at best. If you are looking for a classy, gourmet, fine dining experience, then we recommend that you eat at the Watermark instead.

• Pros: Interesting decor
• Cons: Disinterested service staff, bland food

12/02/09

Left hungry

by melthalion at Citysearch

Paid $75 for vegetarian dinner/wine for 2. Food was edible, but very bland and sparse. We both left hungry. Service was great and the place was lovely, but we will not return.

• Pros: veggie entrees, atmosphere
• Cons: overpriced, bland food, small portions